Takeaways from the Chiefs 2014 Draft Class

Highlighting some of the top quotes, stats and analysis from the NFL Draft

The 2014 NFL Draft ended late Saturday afternoon, followed by an opening statement by Kansas City Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey, during his draft summary press conference.

"It’s been a long three days, I’m not going to lie to you; but you know what, I think we helped the Kansas City Chiefs," Dorsey said. "We got a little bit better today. First off, I want to thank these two gentlemen here. The one to my left (Director of Pro Personnel Chris Ballard) and the one to my right (Director of College Scouting Marvin Allen) for all of their hard work, their diligence and just making the Kansas City Chiefs a better personnel staff. It’s always important to understand one thing and that’s to surround yourself with exceptional people and these two gentlemen right here are very exceptional at what they do. I can’t thank them enough for all of their tireless work and help in identifying some of the finer players I think we got in this year’s draft. I want to thank the college scouts and the coaches for all that they have done, because this is a collective effort with all of us here in this organization."

The countless hours of travel, film study and interviews paid off for the Chiefs, leading to the following player recaps and overall analysis:

"He’s made some huge plays," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. "I think when you watch the bigger games, when they needed a play, he ended up making the play. I think that guy jumped out to John and me. At that level, he did both. There weren’t a tremendous amount of pass rushers in this draft by number, but I thought he was right up there with the best of them.”

“You like to have guys with history," Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard said. "Every guy we have taken, for example Phillip Gaines, I remember Phillip Gaines from three years ago being at a Rice practice and David Bailiff the head coach telling me, ‘Hey I have a corner, who is one day going to be a really good player here.’ So it’s good, it’s good. That’s our job, to track player’s history and to watch them grow and become players in the NFL.”

"Andy Reid is really good with these types of players," Chiefs GM John Dorsey said. "In the kind of offense that Andy runs, he’s going to create situational matchups for this type of player. And that’s kind of how you take advantage of his unique athletic traits and then you let the coach scheme him in to certain packages that take advantage of defenses, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

“He’s a winner," Dorsey said. "He’s been a winner at every stage that he’s played, between high school and college. (He’s) ultra‐competitive and smart. What I like about him is when there are big drives to be made, late in the game, this guy made those drives. He didn’t always win them, but he made those big drives at the end, when it really counted. If you want to put some statistics in there, he’s got multiple records in the SEC, which is as good a conference as there is in today’s football. He performed at a very high level. Why not take a shot and try to get this guy and better your team and add quality depth to your roster? That’s what he gives you.”

“He’s more of a road grader," Chiefs area Scout Pat Sperduto said. "At Tennessee, they had four different offenses, while he was up there and a couple head coaches; so, he had gone through a lot of change and he adjusted and adapted to all the different styles that they had to. He’s played every style and he can handle that. His style is roll off the ball and move people and that’s kind of his gig. He does a great job of setting a pocket presence for the quarterback. He is strong and can squat down and hold the rush out.”

"While he’s got so much more room to grow, the combination of his size and athleticism makes him and exceptionally-intriguing prospect," John Dorsey said. "He’s very athletic and it’s very rare that you can acquire a player in the sixth round with his athletic traits; so therefore, you take a shot on a guy like that. We had brought him in here as one of our 30 visits and he impressed everybody with his person and his depth of football. He’s a really neat kid.”

7) The Toub-Olivo Impact on Special Teams

(Chiefs special team coordinator) Coach (Dave) Toub, let’s not underestimate what he’s been able to do in his career with unique talents at returner," Chris Ballard said. "He did it in Chicago; I was with him. I watched him take four guys and all were very good players and then he came in here and what he did with Dexter McCluster and our kickoff returner, so, we’ve got some unique staff here to take advantage of De'Anthony's unique skillset.”

8) Speed Kills and the Chiefs Added a Bunch of It

Dee Ford (unofficial 4.53 & 4.59 sec 40-times)

Phillip Gaines (4.38 sec - 40-time)

De'Anthony Thomas (4.39 sec - 40-time)

9) Every Chiefs Draft Pick Instantly Creates Roster-Spot Competition

“Competition brings out the best in every athlete," Dorsey said. "That’s the beauty of football; let them compete. Who is the best guy? Let them compete; that’s kind of why you do this."

10) The 2014 NFL Draft is Done, but the Chiefs are Not

“We will always continue to look for players as we go along," Dorsey said. "That’s what we do, it’s our job to try to, if in fact we feel that there is a player that can help this organization, we’re going to go and acquire him. There are still some things going on and you’ve still got training camp and there are still opportunities to acquire those types of players that you’re looking at, if in fact you want to go in that direction.”

The direction the Chiefs are heading right now is clearly the right one, thanks to a 2014 Draft Class that adds speed, tenacity and ultimately that 'competitive depth' to make everyone on the roster better.